Meet the Iowa City man behind famed RAGBRAI folk legend Sprint Selzer

Steve Selzer, a founder of Sprint Selzer Bicycle Club, rides on a recumbent bicycle out of his garage on Monday, July 23, 2018, in Iowa City, Iowa.(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)Buy Photo

RAGBRAI has featured world-renowned athletes like Lance Armstrong and celebrities like Tom Arnold. It's also made legends out of its founders John Karras and Donald Kaul.

But there's only one RAGBRAI folk hero, or tall-tale of sorts, quite like Sprint Selzer.

In 1976, the early years of the annual bicycle ride across Iowa and the last time Iowa City was an overnight stop, the name Sprint Selzer spread like fire of gossip, hopping from bicycle to bicycle. "Have you seen Sprint yet?" "Have you heard about Sprint Selzer?"

Members of the Sprint Selzer Bicycle Club pose for a photo in this undated RAGBRAI photo provided by Steve Selzer.(Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen)

Sprint Selzer was, supposedly, a legendary downhill cyclist who had won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb the previous five years and was ultra rich. Riders with shirts saying they were his nutritionist, publicist, trainer and mechanic rode along with other RAGBRAI riders. Soon, he was the talk of the ride.

In reality, Sprint Selzer was actually Steve Selzer of Iowa City. Back then, he was a young butcher from Fairfax standing at 5-foot-11, 275 pounds. He wasn't exactly a world-class cyclist, but his nickname spawned a legend, a legend propelled by his cycling friends and a plain, white T-shirt with the words "Sprint Selzer Pit Crew" written on it in thick permanent black marker.

"People knew it was a joke, everyone was laughing," Selzer said inside his Iowa City home last week. "It was just who we were as riders. We were all about fun."

"That's when we started to get the reputation, especially in the first 20 years, as the group that stopped and smelled not only the roses, but the hops, all along the way,” Selzer said with a laugh.

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Steve Selzer, a founder of Sprint Selzer Bicycle Club, shows a team shirt he designed on Monday, July 23, 2018, in Iowa City, Iowa.(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

That was the year, 1976, the Sprint Selzer Bicycle Club, a colorful cast of riders from across the country, was formed. A lot has changed since the last year RAGBRAI riders stopped and set up camp in Iowa City, but the Sprint Selzer Club rides on.

Now at the age of 71, Selzer and his three-gear recumbent bike don't do the entire ride across Iowa anymore, but the club with his name still rides strong. He's already done the ride completely 22 times, and doesn't much like the camping anymore.

"We get 75 passes a year. Even if many of the original have either retired or died, it's great to see the club still going," Selzer said.

Members of the Sprint Selzer Bicycle Club pose for a photo in this undated RAGBRAI photo provided by Steve Selzer.(Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen)

Creating the legend of Sprint

The legend of Sprint was created during RAGBRAI IV, when Selzer and friends biked from Sidney to Muscatine. Selzer had ridden the year before but was riding with a group of five guys in 1976. Three of them were named Steve, so nicknames had to be hashed out. Since Selzer was riding a Schwinn Sprint, he got the nickname Sprint.

Rumors swirled that RAGBRAI was soon only going to accept bicycle clubs, so Selzer said the team decided to form a club. Someone offered up the name of the Sprint Selzer Bicycle Club, and it has stuck ever since.

"We got to talking. We thought maybe we should make a story out of this," Selzer said.

Soon, the riders and the two women driving the support vehicle knew they wanted to make a story out of the name. So while the riders cycled, the women bought the T-shirts and the permanent black markers. They made four T-shirts that had "Sprint Selzer Pit Crew" written on their backs. Selzer's own shirt said "Have you met Sprint yet?" on its back.

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Steve Selzer, a founder of Sprint Selzer Bicycle Club, stands in his driveway on Monday, July 23, 2018, in Iowa City, Iowa.(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

That day, the riders started telling "wild stories to every rider we rode past," Selzer said, spreading the rumors about a world-renowned and insanely rich Sprint. Soon enough, other riders were spreading the word. News traveled fast back in 1976 because Selzer said there were fewer than 2,000 riders back then.

The next day, the club donned the T-shirts. Selzer said most everyone immediately got the joke, including Doug Benson, the original and longtime coordinator of RAGBRAI. "He thought it was hilarious," Selzer said.

There were only two real goals for the legend of Sprint: be a sarcastic representation of the serious cyclists — "RAGBRAI is for everyone, not just the people with the fanciest bikes," Selzer said — and also make the daily news. The achieved both the first day.

Selzer remembers riding into Ladora that day near the rear of the crowd of cyclists. One of the Sprint Club members who had gotten to the town before him yelled, "Here comes Sprint now." As Selzer rode into town, cyclists and citizens on both sides of the street cheered and applauded his arrival. The scene was captured by a public TV crew.

For years, Selzer recalled, it was "fun to be famous for a week each year" as the Sprint Selzer name lived on. As the years went on, the bicycle club became something of a joyous and not-so-serious RAGBRAI landmark.

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Steve Selzer, a founder of Sprint Selzer Bicycle Club, takes his recumbent bicycle out of his garage on Monday, July 23, 2018, in Iowa City, Iowa.(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

According to a special publication from The Des Moines Register for RAGBRAI VIII in 1980, the club only had two rules. Early bicycle club member John "Krummy" Krumboltz of Cedar Rapids said they were "Never leave before 8 a.m. and stop at the first bar on the right, unless of course it happens to be on the left."

Sometimes sporting T-shirt uniforms with the slogan "On Track to the Taps" on them, a RAGBRAI official from the 1980 story told the group, "If you guys didn't come, we might have to cancel the whole damn ride."

"We had a good showing this year. The club representation finished last every day except one. It was a Sunday and no bars were open," Selzer said back in 1980.

'Don't bring anyone that is a jerk'

Selzer recalled the club growing dramatically as it became more well-known.

"The initial rule was bring a friend, but don't bring anyone that is a jerk," Selzer said.

In 1977, the group grew to 15. Soon, it was 40. One year, it was 150, which proved too big and a bit too confusing for the original riders.

Since then, Selzer estimates 800 to 1,000 different riders have ridden under the Sprint Selzer Bicycle Club name. Some from France, some from Australia, and many from across the country.

The original five riders were from Fairfax, Cedar Rapids, and La Crosse, Wisconsin. Today, "there's actually very few Iowans in the group anymore. We have more people from Florida than Iowa," Selzer said.

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Steve Selzer, a founder of Sprint Selzer Bicycle Club, rides on a recumbent bicycle out of his garage on Monday, July 23, 2018, in Iowa City, Iowa.(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Decades of RAGBRAI rides took place for Selzer. As he aged, it wasn't the cycling that became more difficult, but the camping. He said sleeping on the ground basically became impossible for him.

Now, Selzer usually rides portions of the route. This year, he'll ride from Riverside to Iowa City, and then likely Iowa City to Davenport in his recumbent bike.

Though the challenge of riding great distances is still part of the reason he races, it's the camaraderie of the cyclists who ride with the bicycle club that shares his name who keep him coming back.

"If I list all of the friends that I have, 80 percent of them I’ve met through RAGBRAI and the bicycle club," Selzer said. "My closest, dearest friends are my bicycle friends."

Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citzizen.com or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg.

RAGBRAI rolls into town

RAGBRAI riders will wheel into Iowa City as early as 8 a.m. Friday, but most will arrive between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Many will stay at City Park, the main campground in Iowa City.

Book It to Iowa City Bash: Downtown will be the place for festivities starting at noon Friday until 10 p.m., with a block party featuring music, food, games and more. The event is free, and wristbands will be sold for $10 and are required for drinking within the block party. Wristbands are free to official RAGBRAI participants.